“No Reserve” Gets October Premiere for myTV SUPER: Rape Scene Will Not Be Cut
TVB’s No Reserve <巾幗梟雄之諜血長天> will no longer be staying on the shelves to collect dust. The World War II epic, which was shot in 2013, will be premiering this October on TVB’s streaming service, myTV SUPER.
The 30-episode drama series, helmed by the now-retired Lee Tim-sing (李添勝), was originally tagged to be TVB’s anniversary drama for 2013. However, the series was later pulled from broadcasting after it allegedly failed to pass Hong Kong TV censors.
According to news reports at the time, No Reserve contained some explicit content and mature themes that were deemed unsuitable for public broadcast. One of them included a sodomy scene involving Wayne Lai’s (黎耀祥) character.
Rumors at the time said TVB censors demanded that all the violent scenes in the series to be cut before it could be eligible for broadcast. The rumors went as far as saying that No Reserve was trimmed down from 30 episodes to 15.
However, with the launch of myTV SUPER — TVB’s own version of Netflix — earlier this year, TVB has opened up to an entire new market of consumers. Due to the more lax censorship rules of the Internet, TVB was able to push out drama productions with more mature content. Their latest series Come with Me <性在有情>, a comedy drama about sex, was able to air on myTV SUPER with no censorship setbacks.
TVB’s Deputy General Manager Felix To (杜之克) confirmed to the media that No Reserve will be getting a myTV SUPER broadcast this year. He said, “The rules are more lax on the Internet. Rather than cutting up No Reserve to make it suitable for television, why not just air the complete, uncut version of it on myTV SUPER? It is a grand production after all, and people are getting worried about whether or not it would see the light of day, but TVB would never waste their sources.”
Felix To added that TVB will take advantage of the new myTV SUPER platform and will consider producing dramas with more “fresh” content.
In regards to the broadcast news of No Reserve, Wayne Lai said, “It’s a good drama, just the subject matter is rather dark. All the actors on the show did a really good job.”
Mentioning that the launch of myTV SUPER would give rise to more dramas with bold subject matter, Wayne said, “That’s great. The audience is always complaining about watching the same dramas over and over again. It’s not good for dramas with potentially triggering content to air on primetime television anyways. It would receive complaints for sure. With this new platform, we can try newer things.”
What kind of dramas would he like to do? “I don’t have anything particular in mind. A good drama isn’t about its subject matter. You also have to consider the characters as well as the script. Take Nirvana in Fire <琅琊榜> for example. The ratings are suffering, but I think it’s an excellent show. Maybe because the script is too intricate and the Hong Kong drama-goers aren’t used to it.”
Myolie Wu (胡杏兒), who also stars in No Reserve, is happy to hear that her show will be getting an airdate. She said, “The subject matter is quite daring, but it is a drama after all, so there are limits. Everyone worked really hard on the show, and I’m happy that it’s going to be released soon! The most important thing is for Tim Gor to be happy!”
No Reserve, the third installment to TVB’s highly successful Rosy Business <巾幗梟雄> franchise, also stars Edwin Siu (蕭正楠), Sire Ma (司馬賽), Susan Tse (謝雪心), Lee Shing-cheong (李成昌), and Lau Kong (劉江).
Source: Oriental Daily
This article is written by Addy for JayneStars.com.
Nirvana in fire is really a good show. wonder why HK people don’t like. In China, it’s a big hit. I loved it, except the rushed ending.
@dramadrama
There’s a segment of HK’ers who loved the original version which they saw on the internet months ago. The dubbed Canto version with new OST and too many cuts was criticized as a disaster by HK’ers who saw the original.
Even non-Chinese who watched NIF on viki.com had nothing but high praise for the drama’s intelligent script, great acting and high production values. Those HK’ers who didn’t like it are used to simple and dumbed-down dramas.
@msxie0714 Ooo. I did not watch the original version. Only the one by tvb, and I find it captivating. Hu Ge is God level. But the ending really rushed, especially the war part. Wished they focus on that more, and his love line. If tvb was the one producing it, I am sure the drama will be bashed to a pulp.
@dramadrama I liked Nirvana on Fire too.
Great storyline, acting and scenery….
1st 4 episodes was confusing, but after that it was great
HK’ers just cannot get into good dramas…They only want the same old boring drama formats…dumb down series…
i watched the first episode and stopped. i just couldn’t follow the story, i wouldn’t have known that hu ge’s character got a shift face had i not read the summary on wiki. the entire first episode was extremely boring and difficlt to follow.
Nirvana on Fire is good after the first episode. People need to watch through the second episode to be able to enjoy the drama. And I would suggest people to watch it in mandrin version. Its so much better listening in mandrin and than the canto dub.
It is reported that there was a sodomy scene involving Wayne Lai. So for those had watched the drama, was it Wayne who sodomized someone or he himself was sodomized? Just curious.
So happy that ‘No Reserve’ finally get to be aired. The chinese wikipedia page for Eric Li said he’s 3rd male lead in the series. Hopefully it will be a good character and bring him more opportunities.